


Don't Let Them See You Cry

by Rangergirl3



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [7]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Blood and Injury, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Friendship, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Muzzles, Platonic Relationships, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2020-05-13 23:04:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19260961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rangergirl3/pseuds/Rangergirl3
Summary: Requested by Anon, for platonic Lance and Keith.





	Don't Let Them See You Cry

“Your fellow Paladins will not find you. Our stealth technology is beyond anything they can even comprehend."

The sentry holding Lance's arm behind his back puts additional pressure on it. Lance squirms, biting his lip and doing his best not to think about how very, very close his arm is to breaking.

"I will only ask you this once, Blue Paladin. Summon your Lion."

Lance swallows and shakes his head. He keeps his eyes fixed on the ground in front of him.

From the corner of his vision, Lance sees Sendak's one remaining eyebrow lift in what might be amusement.

"What, no witty replies left?"

 _'I've got plenty, jackass, you're just not worth them_ ,' is what Lance wants to say, but his legs feel like water, and he's already broken into a cold sweat. All things considered, he‘s proud of himself for staying quiet instead of gibbering in nervous fear. He’s standing in front of the Galra commander who had taken on Shiro and _won_.

_Oh, this was bad. So very, very bad._

* * *

It had been supposed to be a simple scouting mission (yeah, like they ever had any of those).

It was supposed to be an easy one, just a quick exploration of a planet, and its resources, and then bam, back home in time for lunch, but nope. Nope, nope, nope, the stupid Galra just had to be scouting the exact same stupid planet at the exact same freaking time, and of course the freaking Galra sentries had some new kind of stealth tech or invisibility cloak or something that made them _damn near impossible_ to pick up on the Paladin helmet's version of radar. 

Lance had almost tripped over the first Galra sentry.

Literally.

It might have been funny, if it hadn't meant that he had messed up, again, and had barely managed to bring up his energy shield in time to deflect a shot that almost took his head from his shoulders.

 _Haha, oh, wow, I could have gone as the Headless Horseman for Halloween_ , was his first reaction to the near miss. As he dove behind a convenient outcropping of rock, the second (and more sane thought) that crossed his mind was **HOLY FUCK I NEARLY _DIED_  HOLY FUCK HOLY FUCK HOLY FUCK**-

He'd only just managed to warn Keith over their comms before he'd been captured and dragged before Sendak. But, with any luck, the sentries hadn't heard Lance send out the warning, so maybe Keith had been able to get off-planet and call for backup. If the Red Paladin moved fast enough, he might even be able to get back to the Castle itself and warn the other Paladins about the details of the new stealth tech. That would be vital information for them to use in the fu-

Lance's thought were interrupted when a massive fist slammed into his stomach. 

If it had been a blow from Sendak's mechanical arm, Lance would have died on the spot. 

As it was, the blow from Sendak's normal fist still knocked all the air out of him. Lance collapsed down onto his knees, wheezing for air, two sentries still holding him by the shoulders and wrists.

_Okay, okay, it was fine, pods could fix this, it wasn't anything too bad, right?_

"I notice," Sendak says, "That you have not summoned your Lion."

Still wheezing for breath that does not come, Lance tries to straighten his spine.

"-s-super-" He coughs. "- you have - a sense - of humor."

Sendak's bionic eye sucks in light instead of reflecting it.

"I simply state facts."

As he spoke, the Galra commander raised his cybernetic arm, and Lance had time to appreciate how very, very sharp the claws on it looked.

"Facts, such as this one: In my _vast_ experience," and here Sendak smiled a truly hideous smile, "you only need one eye to continue fighting."

Two of the claws flash out towards Lance's face. The Blue Paladin lets out a shriek and jerks his head to one side. The claws come to a halt less than an inch away from the bridge of Lance's nose.

_Oh, no, no no no no no no no_

"But you are very young, and clearly quite stupid," Sendak states. "So I will make you an offer. You can keep your eye, if you summon your Lion, now." 

Lance is almost glad he‘s already kneeling. It'll means he’ll have a shorter distance to cover whenever he face-plants onto the ground.

"N-n-"

He tries to sound confident, and sure of himself, and fearless, but his voice won’twork the way he wants it to. It just comes out as a harsh croak.

"-no."

Sendak towers above him as the sentries tighten their grips on his arms, and Lance braces himself. Then Sendak's comms unit buzzes with static.

"Sir, this is Haxus. We've found the other one and have him pinned down. Do you want him dead?"

Lance's heart almost stops. 

_No. Please._

_Not dead._

_Please. Not that._

Sendak must have seen the expression that crossed Lance's face, because when he answers the comms unit, his voice is smug. 

"No."

The momentary glance he gives Lance is almost one of clinical interest.

"I have a better idea."

* * *

* * *

"Damn it," Keith snarls. He readjusts his grip on his knife and on the gun he'd managed to take from a downed sentry. "Damn it, damn it, damn it, I hate these fucking recon missions."

He chances a quick look out from behind the ruins he'd taken cover in and very nearly gets shot in the face as a reward.

_No way out there._

Keith presses his back against the ancient stone wall and considers his options. He’s surrounded, with no immediate escape options open to him. 

Time to see if Red could do anything on her end.

_Red. I need backup here._

Silence.

_Red?_

"I wouldn't bother," a voice calls from a covered archway. "The Druids have managed to take certain precautions against your Lion interrupting our battle."

Keith almost freezes into place. 

_Had they hurt Red? Worse, had they caught her? What was going on?_

"It's nothing irreversible," the voice continues. Keith recognizes it now. Haxus. "Just something to keep her in place while we talk."

Keith checks to be certain that the weapon he's holding is primed and ready to fire.

"About what?"

"Your loyalties. They're sadly misplaced."

The corner of Keith's lip turns up into a sneer. He's heard this before.

"Join or die, huh?"

He flicks a shard of broken glass from his now-useless helmet (seriously, why did they even bother with these things if all they did was _break_ ) with the side of his foot. In its reflection, he can see where Haxus stands in the shelter of another pile of broken stones. Sendak's second-in-command shrugs.

"Crude, but accurate."

Keith isn’t as good of a shot as Lance, but he’s been practicing. He adjusts his position. If he can just make this _one_ shot, he still might be able to get out of this killbox.

"No thanks," he says. "I’d rather die than join you.”

The Red Paladin moves to take the shot, but even as he does so, Keith sees Haxus look right back at him. The Galra solider is smiling, but the expression doesn’t reach his yellow eyes.

"Oh, but Paladin," Haxus purrs. "We're not talking about _your_ death."

Haxus holds up a broken helmet. Under the dust and debris of battle, its color can still be seen.

_Lance._

_They have Lance._

* * *

Keith doesn’t say a word, but he immediately takes his index finger off of the weapon's trigger.

"If I don't contact Commander Sendak within the next five dobashes," Haxus raises one hand and waves the Galra comms unit for emphasis, "-your friend dies.

Keith remains completely still. He might have been carved from stone.

"Now, if _I_ were in your position," Haxus continues, “I would accomplish the mission I had been sent to do, which would be to report back to base with the information you have already gathered.”

He takes a step forwards, letting the blue helmet fall onto the ground as he does so. It lands heavily. Keith hears thevisor shatter as Haxus goes on talking.

“You know as well as I do that victory or death is the Galra way. Those who do not win simply cease to exist.”

Keith snaps out of his trance. He ducks behind the rocks again, but his mouth has gone dry. He has to strain to hear the words.

"But our way is not the same as yours, is it?"

Haxus' tone becomes one of mockery. 

"No. You _care_  about what happens to your teammates, don't you?"

Keith knows that he's clenching his jaw, but he doesn't fucking care right now.

_Maybe he can pretend that he's like Haxus - focused only on accomplishing the mission, regardless of the cost._

Haxus chuckles from somewhere nearby. It's damn eerie.

"You needn't pretend any longer, Paladin. If you _were_ going to leave, you'd have shot me and been halfway out of this star system by now."

Keith swallows.

_Fuck._

Haxus is right.

Keith can’t take the chance.

If it was only his own life on the line, he'd have already risked it, to get away and warn the others.

But it isn’t just Keith's life in the balance this time.

The group of Galra sentries is almost upon him. Every instinct in Keith’s body screams at him to run, to fight, but he can’t do it. It would mean that Lance - cocky, sensitive, annoying, loyal, impulsive, kind, competitive, loud, one-of-a-kind Lance - would die.

Keith can’t let that happen. Not as long as anything he can do might prevent it.

So instead of trying to shoot his way out of an enemy kill box, Keith places his weapons on the ground and slumps back against the broken pillar.

_He could never leave a friend behind._

The exhaustion he's been steadfastly ignoring throughout the battle finally hits him, and he closes his eyes.

When Keith opens them again, Haxus is standing only a few feet in front of him, and he has a blaster pointed directly at Keith's chest. 

Haxus' smile is tight and cruel. 

“Best not to resist what comes next, yes? We wouldn't want your friend killed just because time ran out."

Keith glares back at him, but he's too tired to come up with a witty respond before the sentries reach them.

* * *

Metal hands haul Keith to his feet. They aren’t careful about doing it. Keith winces but forces himself to remain still, because if he doesn’t, Lance will die.

Cold metallic fingers seize Keith's wrists and cuff them behind his back. Keith maintains eye contact with Haxus throughout the process, right up until one of the sentries comes up behind the Red Paladin and began to tie a blindfold across his eyes.

The effect is both instinctual and immediate. Keith growls, hunches his shoulders, and tries to shake off the blindfold, but Haxus coughs in a somewhat pointed manner.

“Four dobashes.”

Immediately, Keith goes still again, and he doesn’t struggle at all, not even when the sentry ties it tight over his eyes, not even when Sendak’s second-in-command tests the blindfolds' tension by shoving Keith around and pulling the knot tight enough to make Keith’s head start to hurt.

"It'll do."

Haxus shoves Keith once more, forcing Keith to turn around once more. Then clawed fingers put pressure on both sides of Keith’s jaw, forcing Keith’s mouth half-open, and Haxus turns the Red Paladin’s head from side to side in a clinical examination of his teeth.

“Hmm. Sharp enough canines, but not markedly so.”

Anger, fear, and shame burn in Keith’sblood, but instead of wrenching free of the grip, Keith curls his own fingers into fists and focuses his mind on thoughts of Lance.

_Funny, impulsive, brave, kind-hearted Lance._

_Hunk's best friend. The Paladin who would happily make friends with anyone in under a minute. The sharpshooter of the team._

Lance is worth this.

No, that’s not precisely accurate.

Lance is Keith’s friend. He’s _absolutely_ worth more than anything these jackasses can throw at Keith.

It's as simple as that.

* * *

As if sensing Keith’s thoughts, the grip on his jaw tightens painfully. Keith’s chin is forced up even higher as Haxus pulls the Red Paladin’s face even closer to his own.

“You don’t _bite_ , do you, half-breed?”

Haxus’ words are mild, but the mocking tone behind them sends shivers up Keith’s spine and he can’t keep himself from beginning to tremble. Keith tries to shake his head, but the grip on his jaw goes even tighter, and a strangled whimper escapes from his throat before he can stop himself.

“Answer me when I ask you a question. Do. You. Bite?”

Keith still can’t bring himself to speak. His mouth is as dry as sandpaper, and he know that nothing he says at this point will be intelligible.

Haxus growls.

“Three dobashes left, boy. If you want your friend to live, answer my question.”

* * *

Keith forces himself to talk. If he doesn’t answer, now, Lance is as good as dead. In the end, all he can manage is a harsh whisper.

“No - I d-“

His answer is cut short when metal fingers shove some kind of rough fabric into his mouth. Keith nearly chokes on the material, but Haxus doesn’t seem to care.

“Since you _still_ refuse to answer, I find that best it’s not to take any chances.”

Despite the fact that Keith had expected the taunt, his neck and his face still glow red with shame and self-loathing as Haxus’ laugh echoes around the clearing.

As the sentry forces another strip of foul-tasting material between his teeth, the grip on Keith’s jaw vanishes.The relief that floods through the Red Paladin at that is almost enough to distract Keith from another irrational surge of shame as the sentry pulls the second strip of cloth tight, securing the gag behind the back of Keith’s head.

“You’re nothing like your friend back at camp."

Haxus’ voice comes from right beside Keith’s left ear, causing the Red Paladin to jump in place. _Fuck_. He hadn’t realized Haxis had moved even _closer_ to him. The relief vanishes, to be replaced by dread.

“-he _never_ shuts up. I suppose that makes you the strong, silent one of the bunch, eh?”

The Galra soldier reaches out and strikes the side of Keith’s face with the flat palm of his hand, just hard enough to hurt. It’s not a slap, exactly, but it’s not a friendly gesture, either. It’s an insulting gesture, meant as proof of possession, of ownership.

Keith tries not to react. This is all just a show of power, another way for Haxus to show who’s 'in charge', so that he can demonstrate how weak and helpless Keith is right now, unable to do anything at all to retain a sense of personal dignity.

It’s humiliating, but Lance is out of immediate danger.

His friend’s life is worth this.

It’s _more_ than worth this.

* * *

Without warning, Haxus grabs hold of Keith’s hair andforces his head to turn first to one side, and then the other.

“Hmm.No, I don’t think this will be enough to keep you in line. Good thing I brought along something else, just in case.”

The sentry’s grip on his arms goes tighter, and Keith’s throat closes up in panic, his mind whirling in confusion.

He isn’t trying to escape or fight back. His eyes are covered, so he couldn’t have expressed anything rebellious that way. He’s not - he's not even trying to talk back, for God’s sake.

_What -_

Then something metallic presses down over the bridge of his nose, and Keith can’t help but recoil away from the object in terror. He knows what it is, even if he can’t see it.

_It’s a muzzle. Haxus is going to put a muzzle on him._

“Ah.” Haxus almost sounds amused. “You’re familiar with how this device works, then?”

Panic, real and awful and unexpected, overrides Keith’s capacity to do anything other than hold as still as possible, as if that will help him avoid what's coming.

When the muzzle begins to clamp down over the bridge of his nose, Keith’s breath hitches in his chest. His knees buckle, but it's only when the world lurches around him that he realizes that he’s collapsed onto his knees, like a puppet whose strings have just been cut.

Haxus snarls in disgust. “Pathetic.”

The metal hands on Keith's shoulders keep him facing forwards. The edge of the muzzle brushes against his right cheek, and Keith can’t help it. He wrenches his head violently away in other direction, silently sobbing behind the gag.

_He can’t help it. The muzzle terrifies him._

“Two dobashes left, boy. Do you want your friend to live, or not?”

Despite his best efforts not to make any sound, a terrified whimper escapes Keith’s throat. 

_Lance._

After that, Keith tries his best not to move, so that Haxus won’t think he’s trying to resist, but his entire body continues to tremble as the Galra soldier finishes clamping the muzzle over his face.

Then a sentry comes to stand behind Keith, and two more freezing cold metal hands force his head to remain still as Haxus begins to pull the straps as tight as they will go.

Keith doesn’t dare fight against it. He’s terrified that it’s too late, that his last-minute panic has already cost Lance his life.

The trembling soon turns into full-body shaking. Keith feels as if his heart might burst right out of his chest, and all he wants to do is pass out so that he won't be awake when the muzzle is locked into place.

_No._

_Not yet. Can’t pass out yet._

_Lance._

_Think of Lance._

Even so, it takes every last scrap of Keith's awareness to keep from retching when Haxus clicks the final lock into place, reaches up, grabs hold of the muzzle, and shakes Keith's head from side to side, testing the muzzle, checking it for any weak spots.

Keith could have told him it's on so tight it almost cuts off his air, but then, that isn't what Haxus cares about, is it?

 _No._  

The Galra soldier just wants Keith to know that nothing Keith could ever say or do mattered at all, to anyone, anywhere. In that moment, Keith’s almost glad for the blindfold. He only hopes it can hide the tears of shame and humiliation that have already started running down his face.

* * *

Satisfied, Haxus activates his comms unit, and a moment later, Sendak’s voice crackles into life over the comms.

"Haxus. What's your situation?"

"‘Commander Sendak. I have captured the remaining Paladin, as you requested."

 "Good. Bring him to the camp."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

When Haxus and the mechanical sentries drag Keith into the Galra camp, Lance sees that the soldier carries Keith's knife on his belt. Inwardly, Lance groans. 

_So much for someone getting backup._

Haxus salutes, standing as straight and tall as if he's just accomplished a great feat of war.

"Commander, it seems that we have caught ourselves a Blade."

The sentries shove Keith in front of Sendak, and he crashes onto the ground near where Lance is tied to another old stone pillar. The Galra commander's mechanical eye lights up with an ominous golden hue. 

"Really?"

He looks down at Keith.

"How interesting."

Then Sendak casually kicks Keith in the chest. Keith lets out a half-muffled grunt of pain, both when the kick lands and when Sendak's foot comes to rest on his sternum a moment later.

"You see," Sendak says, his words careful, even, and terrifyingly calm. "The Blades of Marmora have caused the Galra Empire no little amount of frustration over the centuries."

Keith's breath leaves him in a series of harsh, rasping coughs as Sendak presses his boot down against his chest.

"So," Sendak concludes, summoning a ball of purple lightning into his mechanical hand, "This is something of an opportunity for - what do you Earthlings call it, again?"

Keith doesn't answer. He can't.

For once in his life, Lance can't speak either. Horror has frozen him to the spot.

"Ah, yes." Sendak's voice is almost pleased. " _Payback_."

* * *

"STOP IT! PLEASE, STOP IT! YOU'RE GOING TO KILL HIM!"

Lance doesn't realize he's screaming until three sentries are holding him back. He tries to headbutt them, and when that doesn't work, he thrashes against their grips as Sendak allows the lightning to build and grow, the electricity crackling and arching out from between his clawed fingers.

"Summon your Lion," Sendak tells him, "and I might consider it."

"I can't," Lance sobs. "I can't, please, just stop it, please-"

The Galra commander allows the dark energy to connect with Keith's chest. The black flightsuit, already torn and shredded around the right shoulder, begins to smoke, and Keith cries out as his muscles stiffen. The sound cuts out when the spasms start.

* * *

Lance doesn't know how long the torture lasts, but he knows the shocks are doing more and more damage, and the breaks in-between are getting shorter and shorter every time.

"Is this all the Blade has to offer?" Sendak spits in disgust. "A mewling, half-breed _kit_?" He spits the last four words out as of they are a curse. "Pathetic."

When he hears those words, Lance's world freezes into place. He turns and looks, really _looks_ , at his friend. 

The blindfold is wet with tears.

Keith is...crying. 

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly I just want to write the whump and then hurt/comfort and I am running out of ways to set up/explain how rescues work for each of these bthb scenarios  
> SO  
> please assume that the rescue occurs, somehow, by someone. <3 <3 <3 Much comfort/love from team ensues.
> 
> I've got a lot of great BTHB prompts to write, and not enough time to write out all the comfort I'd like for every prompt. I'll try to include follow-up fluff/comfort when I can <3 <3 RL is just rather nuts right now ;)
> 
> Comments are great!! Kudos are lovely <3 <3 I'm on Tumblr - come and say hello! <3


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